


In His Arms

by Meynara



Series: Drabbles and ficlets from Tumblr [13]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Blood and Injury, Head Injury, M/M, Post-Battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 05:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14846381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meynara/pseuds/Meynara
Summary: After a battle against Galra resisting the rule of the new Emperor, Shiro notices something is wrong.Hunk is oddly quiet.





	In His Arms

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Bad Things Happen Bingo over on tumblr, based on the prompt "Shunk, cradling someone in their arms"

The fighting had been fierce, as it usually was when they were against rogue Galra who weren’t falling in line with the new Emperor -- fierce enough that they almost  **_hadn’t_ ** come out victorious.

Fierce enough that there had been a sense of unease and worry along the bond the Paladins shared via their Lions while they were together as Voltron.

Fierce enough that the sense only let up when they split back apart to head back to the castle, and even then there had been worry in the back of Shiro’s mind, knowing  _ something  _ was wrong -- but not quite  **what** .

Stepping out of his Lion’s maw, he kept his helmet on, listening to the others chattering away, Lance being his usual loud self, Allura being calm but firm trying to calm him, Pidge sounding a bit irritated but otherwise about as normal as she ever did. It was good to hear the voices of his teammates even if he wasn’t speaking with them himself -- hearing them, he knew they were alright.

It took a long moment for that feeling of unease and what he was hearing to line up, for him to realize what was wrong, in part.

Hunk was silent.

Hunk was never silent after battle. While not as loud as Lance, he was normally chattering away, using it to alleviate himself of the excess energy that came with fighting and surviving.

Almost immediately, Shiro was moving, boots pounding against the metal of the flooring in the hangar as he exited, going down the long hall that would take him to the other Lions’ hangars, until he reached Yellow’s, almost dreading what he would see inside.

Inside lay the Yellow Lion -- literally laying, as if it had collapsed on the floor upon landing rather than a more controlled entry to the castleship, its eyes only dimly lit, maw parted enough to allow someone to exit.

Or enter.

Which was exactly what Shiro did, crouching down a little to get in given the maw wasn’t open completely, moving up the angled ramp to get to the cockpit, hoping he would see signs of something, that Hunk had just gotten distracted tending to the Lion or something similar, something that would invalidate the fear that was building up in his chest.

Instead he could see the silhouette of Hunk’s body leaning over the side of his seat, moving just enough that Shiro could tell from the short distance he was indeed breathing, but that was all he could see in the dim lighting of the cockpit. Carefully, Shiro moved over to Hunk, placing a gentle hand -- his flesh and blood hand, covered with a glove -- on Hunk’s shoulder, letting him know he wasn’t alone before removing his helmet.

“Hey, what’s going on, Hunk?” Shiro kept his voice as calm as he could, setting his helmet down before gently removing Hunk’s and setting it aside as well. Hands moved to pull Hunk up to sitting, and only then did the older Paladin see the thin line of dark fluid coming from the corner of Hunk’s mouth. “You awake?”

“‘m -- ‘m awake, Shiro.” Hunk’s voice was slurring, sounding as if he was struggling to do that much, but his eyes opened to look up at the Black Paladin, lips quirking up into a small smile. “Sorry, jus’ need a momen’,” he moved, trying to push himself out of the chair only to immediately fall back into it with a thump.

It only took a moment for Shiro to come to a decision, nodding before he reached down, placing his flesh arm under Hunk’s legs and gently lifting. “C’mon, arms around my neck. You need to get to a pod, sounds like you have a concussion. Just keep talking to me, okay?” He kept his voice as light as he could even as his pulse raced, waiting for Hunk to do as he’d asked before standing and moving to exit.

“Sorry f’r tha’,” Hunk muttered, taking a breath and turning his head to rest against the shoulder of Shiro’s armor -- hardly the most comfortable place, but the easiest given how he was being carried. “Go’ jos’led ‘roun’ an’ everythin’ was so...loud.”

“No, no, it’s okay, Hunk. You did well, you did so well, but next time  _ tell me _ when something happens.” His grasp on the larger Paladin tightened as they exited the Lion, the eyes that had been glowing faintly now off. “You’re going to be fine, but we can’t help you if we don’t know you need it.”

Against Shiro’s shoulder, Hunk shook his head. “No’ impor’en’,” the slurring was getting worse, more sounds being dropped than before, causing Shiro’s heart to feel like it was going to come out of his mouth at any moment. “Ha’ t’defeat ‘em. Ha’ t’form Voltron.”

Shiro had to take a breath before he could speak, could even try to reply to that. The other Paladins were in the hallway now, chattering away before Pidge looked in their direction. Eyes wide, she was quick to gently hit the other two, grabbing their attention to get them to move out of Shiro’s way, his footsteps moving quicker towards the room that held the healing pods.

“You are very important, Hunk. Important to the team, important to the coalition...important to  _ me _ .” His voice was rough now, steps just shy of jogging. “Swear to me you’ll tell me next time, if this happens again, that you’re hurt.  **Please** .”

All he could hear for a long moment was the younger Paladin breathing. Before he could begin to panic, before he tried to wake the man in his arms, there was a small, barely there nod from Hunk. “...promise. I promise, Shiro...am -- am I  _ really  _ **_that_ ** important to you, though?”

“Hunk, you and I are going to have a long talk after you get out of the pod,” Shiro avoided the question, for the moment, stepping quickly into the medbay, already moving to set Hunk down on the table there, to begin removing his armor. Before he could, however, a pair of shaking hands reached up to brush against either side of his face, turning him so he was looking Hunk in the eyes.

“‘kay,” Hunk gave a soft smile, gently pulling at Shiro, confusing the older Paladin until their faces were pressed together, lips meeting for a brief moment, the coppery tang of blood entering Shiro’s mouth, causing him more distress as he pulled away, even as there was a sense of rightness within. “Talk later. I c’n do tha’.”

Taking in a deep breath, Shiro nodded. “Alright, let’s get you out of this and into that pod -- goodness only knows what else might be wrong, I’m not a doctor, but--”

“Shhh...it’ll be alrigh’, Shiro.” Still smiling, Hunk was completely and utterly calm -- distressing in it’s own right, but enough to get Shiro to smile back, nodding as he finished helping Hunk into the pod.

When Hunk came out, they would talk. All Shiro could do now was wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow me on [tumblr](https://meythecat.tumblr.com/) for more shenanigans or to request prompts!


End file.
